​CHEOPS behind new initiative to increase transparency of perovskite research, through the introduction of a Unified Standard for Performance Measurement and Stability Testing of perovskite-based photovoltaic devices.

On 25th-26th June 2018, CHEOPS invited all major EU-funded perovskite PV projects to the European Perovskite PV Days (EUPPVD) held at the University of Oxford. During two unusually sunny days at the British Oxfordshire, delegates from across Europe came together for intense discussions in the new Beecroft Building at the Department of Physics. On the agenda were pressing issues facing the European perovskite PV community. Time was therefore precious and expectations were high for this first-time event.​

Most of the perovskite (PK)-based photovoltaic (PV) devices are subject to a hysteresis phenomenon when measuring their I-V characteristic. Together with general questions regarding device stability, these hysteresis issues can lead to dramatic overestimation of device performances, which is a challenge for the entire industry. Therefore, CHEOPS has established a measurement procedure and degradation tests with the intention to serve as a standard protocol for academic and industrial development of PK-based PV devices.

As it has been a tradition for nearly a quarter of a century, once every 4 years, three of world’s most prominent international photovoltaic technical conferences, the Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference (PVSEC), the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC) and the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (IEEE PVSC) merge into a global photovoltaic energy technical forum: The World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion. In 2018 the WCPEC-7, that combines the 45th IEEE PVSC, the 28th PVSEC and the 34th EU PVSEC, returns to the birth place of the World Conferences and will be held June 10-15, 2018 on the Big Island of Hawaii. CHEOPS will contribute with ​...

The field of perovskite photovoltaics research is currently undergoing rapid development and is considered to be one of the most promising renewable energy technologies to date. CHEOPS - an EU funded project aiming at achieving low cost and highly efficient perovskite solar cells - has therefore taken the initiative to gather all major EU-funded perovskite PV projects to exchange project results at the highest level at the University of Oxford this summer.

On 25th and 26thJune 2018 the all major EU-funded projects working on perovskite PV technology will gather at ...

The 12th edition of the International School on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (ISOPHOS®) will be held from the 2nd till 6th of September 2018 in the wonderful atmosphere of Castiglione della Pescaia (Tuscany, Italy) , an ancient seaside town grown around a medieval fortress and a large fishery, from which it got its designation.

In the first months of 2018 the EU funded project CHEOPS - dedicated to achieving low-cost and highly efficient perovskite solar cells - has presented a number of encouraging results to improve this renewable energy technology. Here are the highlights from the most recent journal publications and conference presentations:

Present status and future prospects of perovskite photovoltaicsH. J. Snaith, Nature Materials Vol. 17 May 2018 p. 372-276In his comment in Nature Materials from April 2018, Henry J. Snaith from the University of Oxford highlights the “rigorous life-cycle assessment” of perovskite-on-silicon tandem cells and module productions conducted by the two CHEOPS partners Oxford PV and SmartGreenScans. View the entire article without subscription here.

CHEOPS member SmartGreenScans has recently completed an initial study evaluating the life-cycle environmental impact of perovskite/silicon tandem modules from Oxford PV. The results are positive regarding the impact of perovskite devices on global warming and energy demand.

Given their low cost and high power conversion efficiency, perovskite solar cells have gained attention in recent years. However, the use of this perovskite solar cell technology has also raised concerns about their environmental impact, notably due to the presence of lead.SmartGreenScans, a CHEOPS partner specialising in Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) of photovoltaic technologies, has conducted a preliminary study to assess the life-cycle environmental impact of the perovskite/silicon tandem modules to be commercialised by Oxford PV, another CHEOPS partner. The analysis covers all activities from “cradle” up to the factory “gate” where it is manufactured and assembled. This “cradle-to-gate analysis” is considered a partial product life-cycle.

CHEOPS assessed a new production process for bigger (5x5 cm2) perovskite solar cells. The process significantly improves the cells’ performance and spatial uniformity – both is key to the scale-up of the technology.

50% thickness = 10% performance increaseResults show that, in this case, less is more:Reducing the thickness of BL-TiO2 from 40-50 nm to 20-30 nm increased the open circuit voltage by 10.36 % on average. The fill factor was increased by an average of 3.79 % (absolute increase). The picture below shows a cross-sectional scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the optimized device stack.